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Google's App Engine brings Java and Python closer to parity

Google has released version 1.4.3 of its App EngineSDK. According to the developers, the new release brings their "Java and Python runtimes even closer to parity".

For Python, App Engine 1.4.3 now includes a test library to match the existing Java testing framework, letting users create tests for their applications that don't rely on calling App Engine production services, reducing the time tests take to complete and eliminating dependencies on externals services. An experimental Prospective Search API has also been added that allows Python runtime users to "detect and take action on datastore entities that match certain criteria when they are written".

For Java, the development team has introduced Deferred and Remote APIs – both of these libraries have been supported in Python for some time. With the Remote API, users can perform operations on their app's datastore directly from their local machine, while the Deferred API reportedly lets users "more easily write and execute ad hoc tasks". Support has also been added for concurrent requests, meaning that each application instance can now serve multiple requests at the same time. Other changes in the release include a new Files API for both Python and Java, as well as several Task Queue and Cron updates.

Discussing a future release, version 1.4.4, the developers say that they "plan on including a change that allows both the person who uploaded the code to download it, as well as the owner(s) of the project (as listed in the Admin Console)," noting that, "In preparation for this, be sure to properly assign roles to all developers on your App Engine application in the Admin Console. Alternatively, you will still be able to permanently disable the code download feature for your application."

Further details about the release can be found in a post on the Google App Engine Blog by Product Manager Greg D'alesandre and in the release notes. Version 1.4.3 of the Google App Engine SDK is available to download from code.google.com and documentation is also provided.